Do you keep gold at home? Home insurance against theft...

Author of the entry: Mennica Skarbowa
Date of entry: March 14, 2022

You diversify your investment portfolio, invest in gold, insure the apartment where you store it—all to minimize risk. Meanwhile, it turns out that the insurance company is not liable for your stolen bars because, like most insurers, it has included them in the exclusions of liability in the insurance terms and conditions.

COINS AND JEWELRY YES, BARS NO

Different insurance companies define their scope of liability differently in their general terms and conditions of insurance. However, most clearly state that the insurance does not cover: silver, gold, or platinum in bars or scrap, as well as precious stones, semi-precious stones, precious organic substances, or pearls that are not functional items. This means that gold jewelry, silver candlesticks, and gold coins are covered by insurance, but gold bars are not.

UP TO A SPECIFIED VALUE ONLY

Further exclusions from liability arise in connection with value. The insurer does insure jewelry, household items, and coins, but only up to a specified unit value. More expensive items (so-called special household items) are not covered by insurance, or alternatively, their insurance requires the payment of an additional insurance premium and often also requires additional security conditions to be met (i.e., a safe, alarm system, monitoring, constant surveillance). What is more, we are not talking about several thousand zlotys here, but, for example, jewelry worth PLN 1,000. Additional requirements and limitations of liability also apply to the total value of insured items.

AMOUNT OF COMPENSATION

Another surprise may be the amount of compensation. It is often limited by a specific amount or percentage of the total value of household contents insurance. In practice, this means that regardless of the value of the stolen coins, jewelry, and items made of precious metals, we will only receive compensation up to a specific amount specified in the general terms and conditions (e.g., up to 25% of the sum insured for household contents, not exceeding PLN 10,000). Higher compensation is available if we pay an additional premium for special household contents insurance.

The method of calculating the amount of compensation is also important. For jewelry and gold items, the calculation is usually based on the cost of manufacture or the purchase price. For silver and gold coins, it is based on the scrap value, unless the coins are legal tender and their face value is higher than the scrap value (in which case the face value of the coins is used).

HOW TO SAFELY STORE GOLD?

First of all, hide them in your home in a place that is not obvious, follow basic safety rules, and use security measures appropriate to the value of your gold. Of course, you should also insure your home and the property in it, but read the general terms and conditions carefully to make sure that the insured items are actually covered by the insurance and that the compensation paid will be satisfactory. We should also remember about the form of investment. If we want to store gold at home, it is better to opt for coins, as bars are usually excluded from the insurer's liability.

An alternative solution, especially in the case of gold bars, is to store them in a bank safe deposit box or with the seller. This solution does not require the purchase of safes, alarm systems, or monitoring, and ensures that the bars are safe. Although it involves additional costs, it secures bars that are not insured by insurance companies.

DEPOSIT AT THE DEALER

The deposit service is also offered by Mennica Skarbowa, a leading dealer of investment gold in Poland. Unlike a bank safe deposit box, which costs several hundred zlotys, at Mennica Skarbowa, coins and bars purchased through the company can be deposited for a symbolic PLN 1 for the first year (regardless of their value!). After that, the cost of the deposit increases to PLN 50 per year, but this is still only a fraction of the amount charged by banks.

What do we gain by depositing gold with a dealer? First and foremost, peace of mind. The goods are not only secured in a top-class vault, but also fully insured. In addition, professional storage means that we do not have to worry about damage to the gold, which could reduce its value when resold later.

Deposited gold can be collected or sold on site at any time, without the need for additional transport of the bars to a collection point (as is the case with a bank safe deposit box).